Police Fatality Public Fact-finding Review - Regular Meeting

I'm William Jansen. I will be presiding over today's proceedings. This review is being held because the Clark County District Attorney's Office has made a preliminary determination that no criminal prosecution of the officers involved in the death of Daniel Ortega is appropriate. Clark County Ordinance 2 Chapter 2.12 requires public review following such a determination. This is not a trial. The purpose of today's proceeding is to present the public with essential facts surrounding the death of Mr. Oteagan. Chief Deputy District Attorney William Flynn will present today's fact-finding review on behalf of the District Attorney's Office. He will determine what the witness or witnesses to be called. The ordinance does not provide subpoena power on myself, and does not allow for any other party to call witnesses. Gwen Gerling has been appointed to be the ombudsman. She represents both the public and Ortega family. She will have the opportunity to ask questions of the witness or witnesses. The procedure for questioning witnesses shall be informal, with a view to providing the public with the relevant information regarding the use of force. The rules of evidence shall not be strictly enforced. Members of the public observing this review may submit proposed written questions and forms located in the back of this room and present those forms to one of the officers present. I will ask the questions unless I determine that it is irrelevant, redundant, or abuse of the review process. At the conclusion of this review, no formal determination regarding the matter or cause of death shall be rendered. Now to either Ms. Gurley and Mr. Flynn, do you have any additional things to add? No. Okay. No. All right, Mr. Flynn, then you may call your first witness.

Thank you. We're going to call Detective Mark Colon from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Sir, how long have you worked for Metro?

24 years.

And when you started with Metro, did you start as a patrol officer?

Yes, sir.

All right. So fair to say you went through the normal police academy process, field training, and became a police officer.

Yes.

Eventually, you became a detective with Metro. Is that correct?

Correct.

Approximately how long ago was that?

2006.

2006. And what is your current assignment with Metro?

I'm a detective with the force investigation team.

How long have you been in that position?

12 years.

What is the force investigation team with Metro?

The force investigation team is responsible for investigating officer-involved shootings, deadly force incidents, and calls where officers are the victims of a violent felony and sustained injury, and we also investigate in-custody deaths.

What types of personnel are, or what is the structure of the force investigation team within Metro?

We have six detectives, a sergeant, and a lieutenant, and we also have a cadre of detectives that help us out on the larger calls.

Now, the force investigation team, it's sort of separate from the other investigative detective squads, et cetera, through Metro and goes right through to the sheriff, correct?

Correct.

All right. And so just given the nature of that you're often or almost entirely investigating the conduct of police officers, fair?

Criminal investigations, yes.

Yes. The force investigation team, as part of its duties— the detectives and all the various personnel that assist respond to crime scenes or scenes where there is a potential officer involved shooting, correct?

Correct.

All right. And we commonly refer to that as an OIS, right?

Yes.

All right. Force investigation team we may hear throughout our conversation today referred to as FIT, correct?

Yes.

And then officer-involved shooting is just an OIS for purposes.

Correct.

All right. So turning to the matter we're here for today, the— You first of all, you've prepared a what's essentially a PowerPoint presentation with slides to aid in your testimony today, correct?

Correct.

All right. And as we go through that, I'm going to lead you through that and ask you some some basic questions surrounding that. And so Just starting off, I know you have your first slide up already. It refers to this particular officer-involved shooting that occurred May 16th, 2025 at the 1700 block of North Rainbow Boulevard in Las Vegas, Clark County, correct?

Correct.

All right. That was an event that happened sort of in the middle of the day, right? Daylight hours? Yes. All right. And I know we're going to go through a lot of the specific details of things, but just for the audience, for the sake of context, Correct me if I'm wrong, but the nature of this call is their 911 calls are coming into Metro about an active shooter at this particular business location, which is a large gym, correct?

Correct.

All right. And then patrol officers responded because of those 911 calls, and ultimately that leads to the officers shooting the decedent just outside the business, correct?

Yes.

All right. So starting there, if you could go ahead and move forward. And this slide, of course, is a map, but could you just explain what we're looking at?

Yes, this is the overall map of the scene, showing the main cross streets to be Rainbow and Vegas Drive. And then a closer view where the actual OIS took place was in the parking lot just outside of the entrance.

Okay. So the sort of top half of the screen, that's the building that is the gym, right? Yes. And the parking lot where we see all the cars below it, of course, correct?

Yes.

And that dot is right in front of the main entrance to that business, correct?

Yes.

All right. So if you could, just let us explain which officers were actually involved in the shooting.

Okay, first we have Officer Kate Urban. He was hired in November of 2020. He was 29 years old. He worked Bolden Area Command Patrol. His body-worn camera was activated. He provided a walkthrough, and he did not provide a statement to fit.

All right, before we, if you could just back up to that one, before we move on just for the audience, Area Commands, Metro has the valley divided up into particular what you call Area Commands to service those areas, correct?

Yes.

So this gym was located in Bolden Area Command?

Yes.

And so officers naturally that are responding are operating within that area, which is, you have abbreviated as BAC Patrol, correct?

Yes.

All right, and now- I know in your presentation later on, there's a discussion of what a walkthrough is, but I know just for now, there's a walkthrough and a statement listed on your presentation. Those are two different things, correct?

Yes.

And of course, Nevada law doesn't require officers to do these particular things, but they have the options to do them, correct?

Correct.

All right. So we'll get to that later as we explain, but Officer Urban, provided the walkthrough portion, which is a version of a statement in a way, right? Through his attorney, yes. And then declined the separate statement. And if you could, you know, pick it up from there.

Okay.

His weapon was a BCM .223 rifle equipped with an optic and tac light. He had a 30-round magazine capacity, and then investigation revealed four rounds were fired.

How does the investigation determine how many rounds the officers fired?

We do a countdown of the weapon, which shows, we count the weapon down from how he carries it on duty to see how many rounds are missing, as well as the evidence at the scene, the cartridge cases, as well as body cam.

Okay, so you can compare their body-worn camera, of course what crime scene analysts might collect at the scene with cartridge cases, and then the countdown from what's within their weapon, right? Yes. When this type of event happens and the officers are on scene, they typically have another police officer assigned to them right after the incident to sort of monitor them, correct? Correct. And that's an opportunity as well to secure their weapon so that it's preserved for this countdown later on, correct?

Yes.

Okay. If you could continue, please.

Next, we have Officer Aaron Javier. He was hired in May of 2016. He was 37 years old. He also worked Bolden Area Command Patrol. His body-worn camera was activated. He provided a walkthrough, and he did not provide a statement. His weapon was a Smith & Wesson .223 rifle equipped with an optic. He had a 30-round magazine capacity, and the investigation revealed one round was fired. And last, we have Officer Skeeter Black. He was hired in December of 2015. He was 44. He also worked Bolden Area Command Patrol. His body-worn camera was activated. He provided a walkthrough and did not provide a statement. His weapon was a Daniel Defense DDM4223 rifle equipped with an optic and tac light. He had a 30-round magazine capacity, and an investigation revealed one round was fired.

All right. So just before we move on, there were three total officers that discharged their weapons. Yes. One of them fired four rounds. Two of them each fired one round. Correct.

Yes.

All right. And noting from your information, all three of them were carrying rifles. Correct.

Yes.

Is that correct? You know, we all see police officers walking around the street and they're not armed with rifles. Is this the type of circumstance, based on the nature of the calls coming in of an active shooter where officers are going to retrieve these types of weapons from their vehicle and, you know, approach the scene with those?

Yes.

Okay.

So it's strictly the nature of the call that determined they were going to arm themselves with rifles.

Correct.

All right. Now, unfortunately... During the course of the decedent's time inside the gym, he did kill one person, correct? Correct. And if you could explain from there.

We refer to him as EQ. He was 31 years old, and he was the club manager there for 14 years. And the autopsy determined his cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.

Now, we have several, when we say victims, that's now on the screen. These are other victims of crimes that occurred from the decedent inside the gym, but that survived any injuries, correct?

Yes, yes.

If they were injured?

Correct.

All right, if you could go ahead and explain those victims, please.

The first one is AP. He was 67 years old. He suffered a graze wound to the chin. He was in the northeast corner of the gym and heard approximately 10 to 30 gunshots. AP attempted to find cover and get low to the floor. While on the floor, a piece of shrapnel struck AP under his chin. After being struck, he located the nearest exit and ran out of the gym. AP stated he did not observe the gunman and was unable to identify what type of weapon the gunman utilized. Next, we have JR. He was 55 years old. He suffered fragments to the leg. JR was working out and he heard loud popping sounds but wasn't sure what they were at first. JR saw people running and was hit in the leg. JR looked at his leg and saw that he was bleeding and he couldn't stand up. He realized someone was shooting so he crawled out of the gym and went towards the emergency exit where everyone else was running out. Next we have JT. He was 57 years old at the time. He suffered a gunshot wound to the back. JT finished his workout and was leaving the gym. JT heard several pops and immediately fell to the ground. JT felt burning in his lower back and he touched his back area and observed blood. JT did not observe the suspect. Next we have JC. He was 20 years old at the time. He was a victim of assault with deadly weapon. JC was working the front desk and walked to the manager's office. JC heard someone say, he's got a gun. The decedent appeared in the doorway and pointed his rifle at JC. And JC ran to the break room. Last, we have AM. She was 19 years old. She was a victim of assault with deadly weapon. We will go over her full statement in an upcoming slide.

All right. So again, these are victims that were Either, of course, we started with the homicide victim, but then we had several victims that were struck by gunfire and other victims that were assaulted by the decedent with the firearm, correct?

Correct.

All right. And overall... I know you said the last victim gave a fairly detailed statement, correct? Yes. So we'll get to that in a bit.

Correct.

All right. So if you could go ahead then and explain further.

Okay. There was 15 people interviewed that were inside the gym during the incident.

Let me stop you one more time. 15 people that were inside the gym. Is it fair to say at the time that the decedent entered the gym armed and began the whole shooting incident, there were many people, patrons and employees, within the facility?

Correct.

All right. And they were unarmed people that were all reacted in various ways, whether it was hiding, running out the building, anything in between, correct? Yes. All right. So... you have on your slide that there were 15 people interviewed that were inside the gym Was there actually a much larger process of screening people for potential witnesses that you and all of the other detectives and personnel that assisted conducted?

Yes. Yes. Several people left before the incident started or didn't know about the incident because they were driving away. There's also some patrons that left that we weren't able to contact.

Okay.

And there were a large number of people in the area that when police arrive, you have no idea if they are witnesses to anything, correct?

Yes.

So those are screened through as well?

Yes. Okay.

So 15 in total that were in the gym, that became sort of clear witnesses, if you will. They saw something particularly relevant, were all interviewed by the FIT detectives.

Yes.

All right. Thank you. If you could go on. All right.

Our decedent, Daniel Ortega, he was 34 years old. Had he survived, he would have been charged with murder with a deadly weapon, three counts of attempt murder. three counts of assault with deadly weapon on a police officer, and five counts of assault with deadly weapon.

For applicable charges, those are the charges for which the Metro fit detectives and other personnel determined had the decedent survived, Metro believed it had probable cause to arrest him for these particular crimes and submit them to the district attorney's office. Yes. Thank you. Go ahead.

His weapon was an Olympic Arms 223 rifle, and we found 24 cartridge cases at the scene, which he fired at least 24 rounds inside the gym.

Okay, so just for terminology sake for the audience, a cartridge case is a round of ammunition that already has been fired, and it's the cartridge case, the part that's left behind or expelled by the firearm.

Yes, correct.

Okay, so when you say cartridge cases versus a cartridge, a cartridge is unfired. And so as we go through the slides, you found 24 cartridge cases, meaning rounds he shot while inside the jail.

That's correct.

Thank you. If you could continue.

The autopsy was conducted by Dr. Nathan Schaller. He determined the cause of death to be multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of death to be homicide. And the toxicology report showed no positive findings.

All right. And toxicology typically screens for alcohol, various drugs that might affect mental state, things of that nature.

Correct.

All right.

You know, our victim, A.M., she was an employee. She was also the victim of assault with deadly weapon. A.M. was working the front desk where she was responsible for checking in members as they arrived at the gym. A.M. observed the decedent enter the front doors holding a black long gun. He held the gun in a downward position as he walked towards the front desk. A.M. thought the decedent was joking as he walked behind the front desk and towards her in an employee-only section. AM addressed the decedent and stated, excuse me, sir, excuse me. The decedent lifted the firearm and pointed at her and stated, I advise you to hide. AM stood there in shock and stated, are you joking? The decedent replied, no, I advise you to hide. AM ran into her manager's office where she observed EQ and another employee. AM informed them that there was a shooter in the business and they needed to hide. AM turned back towards the door to the manager's office and noticed the decedent enter and point the firearm towards EQ. EQ got up and told the decedent, don't shoot me, don't shoot, call 911. The decedent walked out of the office, then EQ took off running as AM attempted to open an interior door to a safe room by pressing the passcode. Once inside the safe room, she began watching a live feed of the surveillance video. AM gave the dispatcher information as she was observing the live feed from the cameras. A.M. added that she had never seen the decedent inside the gym and did not recognize him.

All right. And just again to refresh for the audience, E.Q. is, of course, the homicide victim. So A.M. is directly interacting with the man the decedent killed shortly before that happened.

That's correct.

All right. Thank you. And if you could, I think you prepared a timeline of really all of the events that happened at the gym, and if you could walk us through that. Okay.

At 1333 hours and 14 seconds, the decedent entered the gym carrying a rifle and walked up to the lobby desk. At 1334, the decedent looked in the manager's office and pointed his rifle at employees. At 1334 and 16 seconds, the decedent walked through the lobby area to the entrance doors and looked outside. At 1334 and 36 seconds, the decedent walked back towards the front desk. At 1334 and 40 seconds, the club manager, EQ, motioned for the decedent to leave. At 1334 and 47 seconds, EQ was on the phone near the juice bar area as he backed away from the decedent. At 1334 and 53 seconds, EQ was shot near the juice bar and ran to the gym, followed by the decedent. At 1334 and 56 seconds, an additional 911 call to dispatch was made regarding a subject with an assault rifle in the business. The caller heard one shot fired. At 1334.59, the decedent followed EQ into the gym area and fired multiple shots toward him. At 1335.05, after shooting EQ, the decedent moved to the main lobby area. At 1335.11, the decedent shot toward the lobby doors, hitting JT. From 1335.16 to 1337.08, the decedent was in the juice bar area, manipulating his rifle and walking around. At 1335 and 50 seconds, LVMP units were assigned to the call. At 1337 and 21 seconds to 1341 and 27 seconds, the decedent was in the lobby area looking through the glass doors. At 1338 and 33 seconds, medical was advised. At 1339 and 52 seconds, officers arrived. At 1341 and 27 seconds, the decedent exited the business with the rifle and shots were fired by officers. At 1342 and 36 seconds, the decedent was placed in custody by officers. At 1344 and eight seconds, officers rendered aid. At 1349 and four seconds, medical arrived on scene.

Now, for the purpose of this timeline that you put together in the slides, Are you able to – these are very precise times you have listed. So as a starting point, you have police, computer dispatch records, correct? Yes. And so those you know the time of everything that's coming in through radio traffic.

Correct.

Then were you able to obtain surveillance videos from within the business and the exterior of the business?

Yes, surveillance video, third-party video, and body camera. All right.

And then there's a process that you as detectives go through, because everybody's surveillance video maybe has a timestamp, in determining whether those times are accurate.

Correct.

And if they're not, making the necessary adjustments before you put this in order in a timeline.

Correct.

All right. So any times listed here are either because a video source or otherwise was determined to have accurate time, or you were able to adjust that time appropriately.

Correct.

All right. And... For the public, Your Honor, we just want to make sure, again, that it's on the screen, the warning of graphic content. So if anyone might be disturbed or is sensitive to this particular material, now is the time for them to not watch or listen.

The following material is required to be presented and may contain graphic images or language. Viewer discretion is advised as graphic content may be displayed. You may proceed. Thank you.

All right. So the first video we're going to look at here, this is a, the slide is labeled surveillance footage slash third party video. The surveillance footage, the third party being the business itself, correct?

Correct. And also cell phone video from outside.

All right. And you were able to string that together in consistent with the timeline that you just discussed, correct? Yes. All right. If you could explain.

Also, you'll hear 911 calls start during the video, and it's when EQ calls 911. And we lined it up with him calling. You'll see him on the phone as well.

So during the incident, the homicide victim is someone who calls 911, correct? Yes. And then he will, so that call is going to play in the background at the times proportionate to the video that he's actually on the phone.

Correct. And when he disconnects from the phone, he drops the phone and you're able to hear gunshots. At that point, he was shot in the hand. He dropped the phone and he continued running.

Okay. And then through other video, we're able to see that he kept running and everything else.

This video will start with the subject on the left side of the screen walking in the front door, and he's going to approach the front desk area where A.M. is.

That AM behind the counter?

Yes. 911 emergency, Moreno Ceballos, 2-0-2-1-1. Do you need police, fire, or medical?

Police.

To what address?

The Las Vegas Athletic Club.

Which one?

The Northwest, the one by Rainbow.

Okay, what's going on there?

Yeah, I think I saw someone come in with an AR.

Come into the Las Vegas Athletic Club?

Yes.

How many minutes ago did you see that?

Just right now.

So one minute ago?

Yeah, like right now, right now.

What color gun was it?

It was a black.

Okay, and you're pretty certain it was? Was he by himself?

Yes, I think there's shots.

911 emergency. Fire or medical?

Hello, can you hear me? Hello? Hello, anyone there? Hello? Hello?

That's the victim who was hit on the back that's on the screen right now?

Correct.

When we recovered his weapon, there was a jam in the weapon, and we believe he's trying to clear that malfunction, and he's unable to, and he unloads and loads several different magazines.

All right, and so that's what's happening in what you believe is happening in this particular portion of the video right now.

Correct.

We'll get to that, but you found magazines for the firearm in various locations.

Yes. And he never was able to clear that malfunction.

So what we heard were his last shots inside the gym?

Yes. He removes his keys from his pocket and you're gonna see him slide them across the floor. And next he removed his wallet from his pocket and he places it against the wall over here on the right.

Oh shit.

When the camera that was inside that interior lobby where you said you saw the decedent throw his keys and it sat down his wallet, he goes in and out a door that we can see in that camera angle. Does that door go directly into the sidewalk parking lot or is there another lobby area and another set of doors before you get outside?

There's a small lobby area after that door leading to this exterior door that you see in the video.

So it's like a double entry door set?

Yes.

Okay. So when he disappears off that camera screen, he's just entering the next little lobby area before the doors to the outside?

Yes.

Okay. And then the cameras switch to other third party cameras that were recording from outside facing the front entrance to the business?

Yes.

The officers, all three that were, that discharged their weapons, they were all wearing body-worn cameras, correct?

Yes.

And did they all have their cameras activated during the incident?

Yes.

Okay, if you could please show us what you've isolated from their videos.

Okay, first we have Officer Black's body-worn camera. It'll show him arriving and then proceed with the call.

Okay.

Is he still inside? Is he inside?

You got one down in here. You got a guy with a long-range rifle inside.

Okay. He went in the bathroom?

There's women in the bathroom. You need to get to that bathroom. He went that way with a long-range rifle.

Okay. Okay.

Okay, right there! Hey! Okay, I see him, I see the... Yeah, hey! Kade, get cover! Yes, he is at the front door. I don't have a shot. Okay, yeah, he's at the entrance. Kade, get some fucking cover. He's barricading the door? I think he is. Okay. Cade. He's right there by the fucking door. Go have a shot. Is that you, Cade? Is that you? He's moving it! Next we have a slow down video of when the decedent exits the door and you'll see the rifle in his hand.

And here's a screenshot of that with the rifle circled in red. Next is Officer Javier's body-worn camera. Officer Javier, he fires one shot through the side window on one of the times when the decedent steps out the first door into the middle lobby area. He fires one shot at him through the glass. It does not strike the decedent.

Okay, action. Do you have the generator go? Get a rifle in place. And then, uh... All right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

William 34, we got two rifles deployed. Multiple people are telling us that he's still inside. Let's go. One's coming out. We need to sign up. He's coming out. Skeeter, Skeeter, take cover. Take cover. He's coming out.

OK, right there. Hey. OK, I see him. I see him.

One's coming out. One's coming out.

Copy that. He's coming out. Get cover. I see him. He's right there at the front door. Yes, he is at the front door. I don't have a shot.

Seen him in the entrance. One WMA, all black clothing, with a rifle.

Copy. He's right there by the fucking door.

Shots fired, shots fired. That was 2 William 34. Still moving.

He's moving, he's moving! Let's go, let's go, hands on, hands on!

Next we have Officer Urban's body-worn camera.

Hey. I see him. He's right there. He's by the front door. I don't see him.

I've got cover, don't worry. Hey, he's locking the doors in. I think he is. Hey, we gotta push in, dude.

No, no. Okay, hold up. Hold still.

I got him. I got him.

Hold still. Let's go. Let's go.

Hey, hey, hey. Give me the radio. Shots fired. Suspect is down. Suspect is down.

All right, so Officer Javier, we saw fired that one shot through the window, correct? Correct. That broke the window.

Correct.

But that, you were able to determine, did not strike the decedent, correct?

That's correct.

All right. So Officer Javier from the countdown, we knew he only fired, discharged his weapon one time. That was that discharge?

Yes.

And then the other officers, a total of five rounds were discharged, and those are the ones toward the decedent as he comes out from behind the pillar with the rifle?

Correct. All right. Next, crime scene photographs. The first is an aerial... picture of the area and during our walkthrough the officers advised us where they believed they were standing when they fired their weapons. Officer Javier on that first shot was approximately 28 feet 2 inches from the decedent when he fired. Officer Urban was approximately 13 feet 9 inches when he fired his weapon and Officer Black was approximately 32 feet 11 inches when he fired.

Let me stop you. I apologize. But just those distances, those are measured from the cones we see in the photograph, correct?

Correct. The cones indicate where the officers believe they were standing.

Right. So that's from those walkthroughs, which we'll talk about a little bit more in a second. Yes.

And then there's a cone to designate where the decedent was standing.

Okay. Thank you.

This is the window that Officer Javier fired through on that first shot. As you can see, the next set of doors are still inside. This is a car in a parking lot that was struck by gunfire. This is inside the gym. These are impacts from the decedent's shots. These are more impacts from his shots. This is behind the front desk area. There's cartridge cases there from his fired shots when he fired towards the front of the lobby, hitting JT in the back. This is the gym area. All the yellow placards indicate shots that were fired by the decedent. In the lobby, we found a magazine that still had 60 rounds in the magazine. In the juice bar area, we found another magazine that had 40 rounds in it. In this decedent's left pocket, we found a magazine with 20 rounds, and from actually The magazine that was in the rifle, there was 30 rounds in that.

All right. So let's talk about this a little bit more in detail because I know you noted while you were playing the video that detectives believed the decedent's weapon jammed while he was back in the part of the gym where we saw him discharging a lot of rounds, correct?

Yes.

And that... intervening event, really, the jam of the gun is what stopped continued shooting in that area of the gym.

Yes.

And we saw the decedent manipulating the firearm, sort of pacing back and forth back in near where you have the 60 rounds in the lobby and then the 40 rounds in the juice bar. Those were the areas we saw him pacing around, trying to manipulate that firearm, correct?

Yes.

And then he had, of course, rounds in his pocket. The rifle itself had an additional 30 rounds that hadn't been utilized, presumably stopped by that jam of the gun.

Yes.

That precipitated presumably the decedent making an exit from the gym. Of course, this is all from your investigation, and officers who are arriving have no knowledge of any of this type of thing.

That's correct.

They don't know if the decedent can continue shooting, how many rounds of ammunition he might have or might not have, any of these types of things. They just have the reports of the shooting, and then they can visually see him come out with a rifle, correct?

Yes.

All right. If you could continue from there.

This is the decedent's vehicle, which is parked in the west part of the parking lot. This is the decedent's gun. It was recovered by patrol officers. And as you can see in the red circle, there is a double feed in there, which is two cartridges are stuck in the barrel.

Okay. So that's when we say it jammed, the firearm malfunctioned or wasn't cleared properly by the user, and two rounds ended up in the chamber blocking its functionality.

Correct.

All right.

And then inside his vehicle, we found the bag. Inside the bag was more ammunition, as well as at the decedent's residence, he also had more ammunition in his bedroom. We did walkthroughs. The purpose of the scene walkthroughs is to assist crime scene analysts and fit detectives with developing an understanding of the scene, including identifying officers' locations at the time deadly force was used, identifying items of potential physical evidence, and recreating a timeline of the incident. All walkthroughs and statements conducted with the involved officers are voluntary. Our first walkthrough was Officer Urban. His walkthrough was led by PPA attorney Charles Goodwin, who asked questions and Officer Urban would answer yes. Officer Urban responded to an active shooter. Officer Urban arrived, deployed his rifle, and set up behind a pillar. Officer Urban observed the decedent by the doorway holding a rifle. Officer Urban heard one shot. The decedent ran out the front door while holding a rifle. Officer Urban fired his rifle because he feared for his safety, the other officer's safety, and the safety of citizens in the area. Officer Black, his walkthrough was led by PPA attorney Charles Goodwin, who asked questions and Officer Black would answer yes. Officer Black responded to an active shooter. Officer Black arrived, deployed his rifle, and set up behind cover. Officer Black observed the decedent stick his rifle out of the door twice in officer's direction. Officer Black heard a gunshot. The decedent ran out the front door with a rifle in his hands. Officer Black fired once because he feared for his safety, the other officer's safety, and the safety of citizens in the area. And Officer Javier, his walkthrough was led by PPA attorney Charles Goodwin, who asked questions and Officer Javier would answer yes. Officer Javier responded to an active shooter. Officer Javier arrived, deployed his rifle, and set up behind a pillar. Officer Javier observed the decedent point the rifle at him. Officer Javier fired one time. Officer Javier fired once because he feared for his safety, the other officer's safety, and the safety of citizens in the area.

All right. Thank you, Detective. That concludes my initial questions, Your Honor.

Thank you very much. Detective, we just watched body cam from the three officers, Officer Javier, Urban, and Black. From watching that and the report that you did, we know that Officer Javier fired prior to the decedent, Mr. Ortega, leaving the gym. Is that correct?

Yes. Okay.

And when he fired that shot, again, with the body cam and the statements that both Officer Urban and Officer Black made, it did appear that they did not know who fired that shot. Is that correct?

That's correct.

On Officer Javier's body cam, we can hear radio transmissions on the body cam. Do you know if the other officers could hear those same radio transmissions that were going on?

I can't speak to that because those officers didn't give us a statement, so I can't say what they heard or did not hear.

Okay. So when we hear Officer Javier specifically tell dispatch that he had fired a shot. We don't know if the other officers could hear that.

That's correct.

And through the walkthroughs, the statements that they made through their attorney, as well as the public safety statements that were made, it does appear that Officer Urban and Black possibly believed that the decedent, Mr. Ortega, had fired a shot.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear that last, what was the last part of that?

That they believed that, the other two officers believed that Mr. Ortega could have been the person that fired that shot, that first shot.

Yeah, they didn't know who fired it, so.

Okay. In regards to Officer Javier, again, we can hear the radio dispatch. And we did hear that there was a possible gun jam prior to any shooting. Do you know if anyone actually heard that?

The decedent's guy?

Yes.

No, they had no way of knowing. His rifle was located after the fact, and that's when they observed the malfunction in his rifle. But they didn't know, like the video we saw of him trying to clear his weapon, they had no access to that. They had no information that that was going on at the time.

And my question is because you do actually hear on the radio transmission that there's a possible jam. And you had previously answered questions in regards to the fact that one of the ladies that was working there, AM, was actually in the surveillance room with cameras while speaking with 911. Right. Do we know how much information she was conveying to dispatch and or officers while they are arriving on scene?

I don't know what the officers learned from that, but she did convey that there was a shooter in the business and that there was a person down.

Do you know if she kept relaying that information of observing the surveillance videos and what was happening similar to what we watched?

Yes. I mean, she saw where he was, his movements, stuff like that. She didn't know what he was doing exactly, but she let them know.

Okay. Um, again, and watching the body worn camera of all three officers, um, we don't hear them, um, convey any commands to the decedent, Mr. Ortega, um, either while he was in the gym or when he exited, um, Is there any sort of metro protocol regarding that?

I believe they didn't give us a statement, so I can't speak to it. But if you look at Officer Javier's distance from when he fired his weapon, that's pretty much where they all were standing when the decedent was in the gym. at least 30 feet away, and there was two sets of doors, and they knew that he had fired his weapon inside, and they saw him standing at the door. So I'm sure at that moment, their priority was keeping an eye where he was, but I don't know if it's realistic that the decedent would have heard their commands from outside.

Okay. But it is fair to say no commands were actually given at any point in time to either come outside, put down the weapon, hands up, anything like that.

That's correct.

Yeah, I hear that. So Officer Urban and Officer Black are both the officers that shot, that hit The decedent, Mr. Ortega. Yes. And at that time, they knew that there was a gunshot and believed it could have been the decedent, Mr. Ortega. But in fact, it was not.

Yeah, they both in their walkthrough said they heard a gunshot. They didn't designate who they thought fired it.

When we looked at the information regarding the decedent, Mr. Ortega, the toxicology had negative results.

Correct.

And upon further questioning, it seems like that means that there was no drugs or alcohol detected in his system at the time.

That's correct.

Okay. There was additional investigation that you and other detectives conducted regarding Mr. Ortega in regards to potentially his mental health. Was there a conclusion that was come to regarding that at this time?

Although we couldn't find any professional diagnosis of the decedent, speaking with numerous family and friends, They stated he had been acting differently lately, but not in a violent manner. He did not mention he wanted to lash out violently towards anybody.

And in fact, in regards to the witness in what would have been an alleged victim inside AM, She initially described the decedent, Mr. Ortega, as calm with a mellow tone of voice, at least initially.

Yes.

And that Mr. Ortega did not start firing his weapon immediately when he came in or encountered anyone.

That's correct. Okay.

I think that's all the questions I have.

Do you have anything else?

Just a brief follow-up, if I may. Just to clarify a couple things you just were asked about. There's no way to know if the officers, when Officer Javier fired his weapon, could hear the radio traffic. Under normal circumstances, patrol officers are looped into the radio traffic, correct?

Correct.

So they have an earpiece in and all the officers can communicate via the radio. That's the normal course of things, right?

Correct.

Now, if somebody's earpiece fell out during this, you wouldn't know, but generally they can hear and communicate with each other over the radio.

Yes.

They can also radio in to all the officers that... might be responding as well to dispatch what's going on that they're seeing, observing, hearing, correct? Yes. All right. So shortly after Officer Javier fires his weapon that hits the glass, we hear him on his body camera, he reaches for his radio, and he says, shots fired, shots fired, correct?

Correct.

So that's him taking steps to immediately notify others that there have been gunshots, correct?

Yes. All right.

And at that point, we see the other officers hide behind those, not really hide, but block themselves by those pillars, right?

Yes.

So they... that sort of confirms they don't know who necessarily is shooting correct correct or if it was one of the officers is there going to be a shooting response from inside the business correct correct so they're just protecting themselves and uh calculating their next steps right yes all right we even heard one of the officers say we're going to have to push forward meaning enter the business correct correct um these types of active shooter situations, that's something that Metro officers go through a variety of training for, correct? And they're tasked with making sure an active shooter doesn't just continued to shoot people inside a building while officers just stand there and call them out, correct?

Correct.

And, in fact, this shooter, the decedent, had dozens and dozens of rounds of ammunition that he ultimately wasn't able to use because of a malfunction in his firearm, but he came armed with ammunition that could have caused dramatically more harm than he did, correct?

Yes.

Nothing further. Thank you.

Miss Vernon, do you have anything further? No. With your contact with the family, did they present to you or request from you to present this officer any questions? Did they have any questions they would like to have answered?

I wasn't able to make contact with them. Metro made contact with them and discussed everything. I wasn't able to, so I don't have any questions to present from them today.

Okay. The purpose of today's hearing was to present the public with essential facts surrounding the death of Mr. Ortega. Glenn Gerling was appointed by the county manager as the ombudsman to represent the public and Ortega family. Ms. Gerling was given an opportunity to ask questions to provide the public with relevant information regarding the use of force in this case. I was appointed by the Clyde County Manager as the Presiding Officer to preside over this public review. I too was given an opportunity to ask questions to provide the public with relevant information regarding the use of force in this case. Prior to today's public review, the Clark County District Attorney's Office provided to Ms. Gerling and myself copies of law enforcement investigation regarding the death of Mr. Ortega. The documents provided by the prosecution are considered public record. If you miss any of this review or would like to obtain a recorded transcript, a video of the entire proceeding, is available on the Clark County website at www.clarkcountynv.gov. That concludes the police fatality public fact-finding review into the death of Daniel Ortega. Thank you.